If you think you might *ever* buy this book...
Buy it today!
First: If you think there’s ever a chance you might buy When We’re in Charge — buy it today!
You can order it in any format you’d like — hardcover, e-book, or audio book (narrated by yours truly) anywhere you get books, including Amazon or Bookshop.org (use code LOVEBOOKSELLERS for 15% off), or literally anywhere else.
If every single person who usually opens this newsletter buys the book today — no procrastinating, seriously, right this very minute — I will for sure sell enough copies to hit a bestseller list. (Which is not how I’m defining my self-worth, etc, who cares, and/but, I really want to! I think it’d be cool as hell!)
If you’ve already bought a copy or want to be helpful in other ways that don’t involve money, review the book on Amazon or Goodreads to spur the algorithm to keep recommending it, and post about it on social media! Word of mouth is huge.
Relatedly: I am so sick of myself.
Don’t get me wrong: I am grateful for the attention that When We’re in Charge is getting! I have been all over the place and I know most writers don’t get the same opportunities to talk about their books.
So I am not complaining. But just in the last week, in no particular order:
On Friday, I joined Morning Joe to talk about When We’re in Charge and what might be possible when new leaders step up and take power.
I chatted with Brian Tyler Cohen about the book and what new leadership will mean.
I also talked with Forbes about the connection between next-gen leadership and democracy.
Teen Vogue ran an excerpt of my new book all about how what if work didn’t suck — imagining a world where everyone had time to be real people, not just worker bees.
I chatted with Molly Jong Fast on Fast Politics about the generational divide in Democratic politics (and enjoy a small rant about how everything is a housing problem.)
I talked with Jane Coasten on What a Day about the 45,000+ people who’ve signed up to run for office in the last six months.
I was also on Strict Scrutiny, giving some leadership tips to the Supreme Court justices. (Roll with it.)
The team at
and I had a fun chat about a whole range of things related to the book.I did Instagram lives with Courier News and Rebranding Motherhood, and appeared on at least three Sirius XM radio shows that I can remember.
I had a great (standing room only!!) book launch at Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn, where I only knew about half the people who came out (!!!) and got to chat with the incredible Versha Sharma from Teen Vogue about next-gen leadership and how maybe gen Z doesn’t know about Mad Men???
Plus: I taped a few things and did interviews for a few pieces that have yet to come out.
And of course, I was doing non-stop social promotion, making videos, re-sharing posts, and lifting up links to buy the book.
Also: I did my day job, which involved lots of internal and external meetings, and publishing an op-ed in The Daily Beast about how more older Democrats need to retire and be celebrated — a take that has people on Threads (of all places??) big mad at me, because they seem to wrongly assume that if an older Black legislator retires that they will automatically be replaced by a younger white leader, which is not what I’ve ever said, nor what will happen because that is simply not how these districts are drawn, and seems to miss that thanks in part to Run for Something’s work, there’s an incredible new generation of young Black elected leaders all across the country who will do great stuff if given the opportunity to rise.
But: That’s neither here nor there. (However: I know I was particularly zonked this week because I was feeling tempted to fight with strangers on the internet, which is never a good use of my time, and especially not a good use of it this week.)
All that’s to say that I am so tired. Grateful! But tired.
Even so, I am appreciative for the way this process has pushed me.
I decided early on that I wasn’t going to leave a single stone unturned for this book promotion process — so as the promo cycle ramped up around 6 weeks ago, I set a goal of making a video every single day.
I didn’t quite hit that streak — some days I just ran out of stuff to say or got too busy — but still: I’ve now made dozens of TikToks-that-often-became-Instagram-reels. I’d film them while I walked the dog or in between meetings during the day and tried not to spend more than 10 minutes fussing with the content beyond adding captions.
The commitment to doing it got me over the cringe-barrier. I am much less self-conscious and way less precious about what I post.
Most of my videos don’t go viral. (Duh.) But every so often, one will pop a little (usually on Instagram more than TikTok, not sure what to make of that), and if it helps sell even 3 books, well, that’s 3 more than 0.
I liked the challenge: Much like with this Substack, the decision to hold myself accountable to consistency pushes my creative muscles. I catch myself thinking '“what am I going to write this week” or “what am I going to post today” and being more expansive about what I might move forward with.
Content creation at this pace feels hard to sustain, and in the next few weeks as the book publicity cycle winds down, I’ll take my foot off the gas/finger off the record button at least on the social media video front, and this Substack will return to its regular Friday email cadence in the next week or two, along with your regular “other related links and book recs” sections.
But it’s good to push myself and get a little uncomfortable in service of growth. The skills I’ve developed through this experience will serve me the rest of my career, whether they sell books or not.
As I end my first week post-publishing, start to hear from people who’ve read the book (who mostly seem to like it, except for the angry boomers!!), and sales numbers come in, I’m focusing on that win:
I’m better at something now than I was before this. No matter how many copies this book sells, that rules.
P.S. If you’re in DC, join me for a free book event on Wednesday night! It should be fun.
Congratulations on this huge accomplishment and all the positive coverage!
Just bought the ebook. Congratulations on all the good press!